Chapter 8 Self-test questions

. Which of the following is not necessarily a redundancy situation?

In response to economic pressure a business reorganises in a way that requires changes to the organisation of work, and several employees refuse to cooperate with the changes and are dismissed.

In response to economic pressure a business reorganises in a way that requires changes to the organisation of work, and this means that some kinds of jobs are no longer needed and those workers are dismissed, but some new kinds of jobs are required, so an identical number of new workers are hired to do those jobs.

An employer goes out of business.

A national company closes its branch in a particular city and must dismiss all of the employees at that branch.

. Which of the following would not constitute a redundancy resulting from a diminished requirement for work of a particular kind?

Competitive pressure means that a company needs fewer welders, but its welders are excellent employees, so the company eliminates ten welding jobs, moves the ten newest welders to the assembly department, and dismisses ten assembly workers.

In order to make a higher profit margin, a company requires forty of its forty-one employees to work an extra hour a week so that it can dismiss one employee.

A company no longer needs someone who can type, but instead needs someone who can operate a voice dictation system, so it dismisses the typist and hires a voice dictation specialist.

A diminished need for welding work leads a company to reorganise it operation to achieve efficiencies, and as a result a mid-level management job gets eliminated.

. Which of the following changes to a given job would constitute a loss of the original job?

A change in a barmaid/waitress job from a traditional family pub to a rough and raunchy 'roadhouse'.

A change in the job of petrol station manager to require more paperwork.

A change in the job of a heating maintenance worker from one requiring plumbing skills to one requiring the computer and electronics skills of a 'heating technician'.

A change to the days of work from five days a week to six.

. Which of the following is the proper test for deciding where a person is employed for the purpose of the definition of redundancy?

Where he or she could be required to work by the contract of employment.

Where the employer does business of the kind for which the employee was engaged.

The location nearest to where the employee resides.

Where the employee actually worked generally (even if the employee worked in more than one place).

. Which of the following is the proper test for deciding what is an individual's 'work of a particular kind' for the purpose of determining whether they have been made redundant based on a diminished need for such work?

What work he or she could be required to do by the contract of employment.

What work the employee actually did (including if the employee did more than one kind of work).

The claimant's 'work of a particular kind' is irrelevant.

The work that most closely corresponds to the employee's key skills.

. Which of the following is not expected of an employer in order to make a redundancy a fair dismissal?

The employer should consult with the employee or his or her union.

The employer should send notices to employees only after every option has been investigated, and the decision to make certain people redundant is final.

The employer should make reasonable efforts to find suitable alternative employment for the employee within the firm.

The employer should use a fair selection procedure to decide who is to be made redundant based, where possible, on objective matters like length of service, experience, and efficiency.

. Which of the following is not a question a tribunal should ask itself in determining whether a reorganisation SOSR is 'reasonable'?

Was the company correct in believing that economic circumstances required a change?

Was the reorganisation necessary, in the sense that there was a real business need that justified some kind of reorganisation?

Were the changes to the employee's job necessary to the success of this reorganisation?

Was there sufficient and appropriate consultation?

. Which of the following is not excluded from receiving a redundancy payment?

A person with less than two years continuous employment.

An employee dismissed for gross misconduct even though a redundancy situation applies.

An employee who has unreasonably refused an offer of suitable alternative employment.

An employee who leaves before the redundancy notice period expires in order to take on new employment.

. Which of the following is not a category of information which a transferring employer is required to supply to affected employees before a transfer of undertakings?

The fact that the relevant transfer is to take place, when, and the reasons for it.

The legal, economic and social implications for the affected employees.

The contractual terms of the employees currently working for the transferee.

The measures the transferor envisages will be taken in relation to those employees in connection with the transfer.

. Which of the following is not true about dismissals associated with transfers of undertakings?

It is automatically unfair if the dismissal is by reason of the transfer itself.

Dismissals connected with a transfer of undertaking are automatically unfair.

It is automatically unfair if the reason for the dismissal is even connected with the transfer, unless the reason is an economic, technical, or organisational reason.

Dismissals for economic, technical, or organisational reasons connected with a transfer are treated as SOSR dismissals and must be shown to be reasonable in the circumstances.

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